The study was carried out to determine the density and mechanical properties of Al-7%Si alloy-Bagasse Ash (BA) composite produced at 800 o C. BA obtained at 700 o C and having high silica and alumina contents of up to 77.29% and 10.95%, respectively was used as reinforcement and varied from 0vol% to 30vol%. The density and some mechanical properties of the produced composites were determined. The results showed that the density decreases with percentage increase in reinforcement from 2840.242kgm-3 to 2292.208kgm-3 with the minimum value at 30vol% BA. The results of the mechanical properties tests showed that, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) varies from 139.677MNm-2 to 176.683MNm-2 with maximum value at 10vol% BA, Young modulus varies from 1429.890MNm-2 to 1725.425MNm-2 with maximum value at 10vol% BA, impact strength varies from 75.401kJm-2 to 128.262kJm-2 with maximum value at 10vol% BA and hardness varies from 70.467RHV to 90.767HRV with maximum value at 20vol% BA and with all the hardness values better than that of the control sample. The results also showed that, the fatigue strength varies from 0.066x10 6 cycles to 1.797x10 6 cycles with maximum value at 15vol% BA and the percentage elongation having approximately the same value.The results of the statistical analysis showed that there are significant differences among the means of each property of the composites at various levels of BA replacement (P<0.05).It was concluded that bagasse ash can be used as reinforcement in aluminium composites and the produced composites could be used in automobile industry for the production of engine blocks, pistons, among others.

Formulation of brake pad from palm kernel shell (PKS) and cow bone reinforced polymer composite was investigated. Palm kernel shell and cow bone were added in different sieve grading into an epoxy resin and hardener at 100, 100 and 120 sieve grading respectively. The formulated brake pads were characterized based on the requirements for brake pad uses. All properties investigated were observed to be within the acceptable requirement for brake pad function. The impact test for PKS and cow bone show 1.0 J and 1.5 J respectively. The hardness test show 55.7 HRB and 46.0 HRB values for PKS and cow bone respectively.While the water absorption test for PKS was 5.05% and cow bone was 5.53%. Oil absorption test for PKS was 2.23% and 4.16% for cow bone. The values of thermo-gravimetric analysis (TGA) were measured in terms of highest percentage weight loss and for PKS it was 57.14% and 63.24% for cow bone. While the values of coefficient of friction for PKS and cow bone were 0.735 and 0.677 respectively. Wear rate for PKS was 9.57E-7 and 1.44E-6 for cow bone. Crushing strength for PKS was 23N/mm² and 21N/mm² for cow bone.

This study was carried out to determine silica and alumina potential of ash of sugarcane bagasse obtained from Savannah Sugar Company Numan, Adamawa state of Nigeria. Sugarcane bagasse samples were burnt in a metallurgical furnace at three different temperatures of 500 o C, 600 o C and 700 o C. The percentages of ashes that remained after burning were found to be 12.65%, 10.89% and 9.95%, respectively. The ashes were ground to powder and using X-ray fluorescence (XRF) machine, the samples of the ashes were analysed to determine their percentage chemical oxide composition. The XRF results show that the silica contents are 76.168%, 76.292% and 77.286% while alumina contents are 11.079%, 11.410% and 10.951% for 500 o C, 600 o C and 700 o C respectively. It was concluded that the sugarcane bagasse ash has high silica and alumina total content both of which are the most commonly used reinforcing materials in aluminium matrix composites. It was recommended that to enhance the application of the ash as reinforcement, the ash should be further heated at 1100 o C and above for a period of 2-3hours.

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Plants and agricultural wastes with high degrees of fibrous content in form of lignocellulose compounds have been identified as main ingredient in composites, making them suitable for manufacturing of insulation boards and panels. Thus, several researches have succeeded in using these plants and agro waste fibres in developing renewable and environmentally friendly thermal insulation products. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of insulation boards made from leave and bark fibres of Piliostigma thonningii L.in terms of density, water absorption, apparent thermal conductivity, specific heat and thermal diffusivity. The leave and the bark fibres were prepared in form of squared boards of 200 mm x 200 mm and thickness of 20 mm using natural rubber latex as a binder. The fibre to binder ratio was varied with a composition of 1:1, 1:2, 1:3 and 1:4. The LFB recorded densities between 528.6 kg/m 3 and 538.4 kg/m 3 while in the BFB the densities are between 558.3 kg/m 3 and 711.8 kg/m 3 at various compositions. The Percentage water absorption for the LFB is between 36.51% and 12.03% while the BFB is between 25.02% and 13.23%. Similarly, the apparent thermal conductivity values for LFB are between 0.032096 W/mK and 0.040855 W/mK while that of the BFB are between 0.039439 W/mK and 0.043406 W/mK. The specific heat values of the LFB are between 2901.88 J/kg.K and 3656.48 J/kg.K and that of the BFB are between 2044.46 J/kg.K and 2512.61 J/kg.K while the thermal diffusivity is between 2.05E-8 m 2 /s and 8.07E-9 m 2 /s for the LFB and 1.57E-8 m 2 /s to 2.68E-8 m 2 /s for BFB. The boards recorded thermal properties that are comparable to those of the commercially available products with LFB performing consistently better than the BFB.

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This study was carried out to determine the potential of Girei Rice Husk Ash (RHA) as reinforcement in metal matrix composite. Rice husk from local millers in Girei market in Adamawa state was collected, prepared and burned in metallurgical furnace at temperatures of 500 o C, 600 o C, 700 o C, 800 o C and 900 o C and the percentage ash yields determined. The resulting ashes were analysed using X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) machine to determine their chemical oxide composition. The result shows that the resulting ash yield based on mass basis were 19.